Design of cable termination for AC breakdown voltage tests

Abstract

International standards prescribe overvoltage tests to evaluate the insulating material performance of high-voltage cables. However, it is difficult to manage the electric fields at the cable ends when laboratory measurements are carried out because surface and external discharges occur at the cable termination. Therefore, this paper presents a procedure for designing cable terminations to reduce the electric field at the cable ends to appropriate levels even in the case of overvoltage tests. For this purpose, computer simulations of electric field distribution using the finite element method (FEM) were performed. A 35 kV cable model was employed as a sample. An voltage with RMS (root mean square) value of 300 kV was used as an overestimate of breakdown voltage for the internal insulating material. The cable termination model obtained through the proposed methodology allows an electric field reduction in air, preventing the occurrence of external discharges, and thus permitting the breakdown voltage measurement of the cable’s inner insulation.